Echinacea

Bring the beauty of nursery-grown plants straight to your garden with our carefully nurtured collections, grown by our small, family-run team at our nursery in Somerset. Available for mail order across the UK, it's easy to buy plants online with confidence. Our plants range from shrubs and ferns to ornamental grasses and herbaceous perennials — all grown in peat-free compost and packed with care to arrive healthy and ready to thrive. With reliable delivery, our collections make it simple to create a beautiful, sustainable garden.

Buy Echinacea Plants Online – Nursery Grown in Somerset

Discover our range of echinacea (coneflower) plants, grown at our family-run nursery in North Perrott, Somerset. With their bold, daisy-like flowers in shades of pink, purple, white, orange and yellow, echinacea are among the most rewarding perennials for UK gardens. Long-flowering, drought-tolerant and irresistible to pollinators, they earn their place in any sunny border. All our plants are grown in peat-free compost and delivered across the UK by mail order.

Types of Echinacea

  • Echinacea purpurea – The classic purple coneflower. Reliable, vigorous and one of the best perennials for bees and butterflies. Varieties include 'Magnus', 'White Swan' and 'Kim's Knee High'.
  • Echinacea hybrid varieties – Modern breeding has produced a dazzling range of colours including orange, yellow, red and bicolours. Varieties such as 'Cheyenne Spirit', 'Hot Papaya' and 'Sombrero' offer something beyond the traditional purple.
  • Echinacea pallida – A more delicate species with narrow, drooping petals in pale pink. Excellent for naturalistic and prairie-style planting.

How to Grow Echinacea

  • Position: Full sun is essential for the best flowering. Echinacea will tolerate partial shade but may become leggy and flower less freely.
  • Soil: Well-drained soil is key. Echinacea are drought-tolerant once established and will rot in waterlogged conditions. They thrive in poor to moderately fertile soils.
  • Planting: Plant in spring or early autumn. Space plants 45–60cm apart to allow good air circulation.
  • Watering: Water regularly in the first season while establishing. Once established, echinacea are remarkably drought-tolerant.
  • Feeding: Little feeding needed — too rich a soil encourages leafy growth at the expense of flowers.
  • Hardiness: Echinacea purpurea is fully hardy in the UK (RHS H5). Some hybrid varieties may be slightly less hardy — a well-drained soil is the best insurance against winter losses.

How to Prune & Maintain Echinacea

  • Deadhead spent flowers to encourage further blooms through summer and into autumn.
  • Leave seedheads standing through winter — they provide food for finches and structural interest in the border.
  • Cut back to the ground in late winter or early spring before new growth emerges.
  • Divide congested clumps every 3–4 years in spring to maintain vigour.

Echinacea for Pollinators

Echinacea are outstanding pollinator plants. The prominent central cone provides a landing platform and rich nectar source for bees, butterflies and hoverflies from midsummer through to autumn. They are RHS Plants for Pollinators approved and among the most wildlife-friendly perennials you can grow.

Echinacea in Prairie & Naturalistic Planting

Echinacea are a cornerstone of prairie-style and naturalistic planting schemes. They combine beautifully with ornamental grasses, rudbeckia, helenium, agastache and veronicastrum to create a long-season, low-maintenance border with year-round interest.

Why Buy Echinacea from Champion Plants?

  • All plants grown in peat-free compost at our Somerset nursery
  • Dispatched by UK mail order — carefully packed to arrive in perfect condition
  • Expert advice available — contact Jason or Kate with any growing questions
  • Family-run nursery with a focus on quality over quantity